"What happened?"

Wei Ying fidgeted uncomfortably on the bed. He really didn't want to talk about it. "Isn't your brother going to be home soon?" he asked, plastering a half-hearted smile onto his face. "Shouldn't you go say 'hi' or 'welcome back' or something?"

Lan Zhan refused to budge, standing in front of the door with arms crossed, effectively blocking off any chance of escape. "How was your sister killed?"

Wei Ying sighed, looking away. He'd really just wanted to warn Lan Zhan, that was all. He hadn't expected the Spanish Inquisition. Unless he wanted to jump out the window, the only way to get out of this was to answer Lan Zhan's question. Wei Ying brought his knees up to his chest, curling in on himself. "He stabbed her. Right in the heart."

"Why?"

"I don't know!" Wei Ying snapped. "He was trying to kill her husband and she got in the way!" He felt tears start to slide down his cheeks. "I don't know why." He sniffled, rubbing his eyes. Lan Zhan probably thought he was such a baby. Boys weren't supposed to cry like this.

"And then what?"

Wei Ying scoffed through his tears. "What else? He killed her husband and started a fire to destroy the evidence." He could still feel the heat of the flames from that day around him, like they had never gone away. More tears escaped from his eyes, but he couldn't seem to stop them no matter how hard he tried. It was hot, and it hurt, and his sister was dead. He would never see her again.

He felt a gentle hand on his shoulder, and he found himself looking up at Lan Zhan's eyes. Was it just his imagination, or were Lan Zhan's eyes starting to water? Either way, this was not the reaction he had been expecting.

"Why didn't you tell anyone what really happened?" Lan Zhan asked, his voice even despite his watering eyes.

Wei Ying stared hard at Lan Zhan for several seconds. Did he not notice how no one else even knew Wei Ying was there? Had he really not realized it yet?

"I can't," Wei Ying answered slowly. He had to choose his next words very carefully. "I died in that fire. I'm a ghost."

Several awkward seconds of silence passed.

Lan Zhan took a step back, crossing his arms again. "Ghosts don't exist."

Wei Ying groaned, rolling his eyes. "I think I'd know if they didn't, cos then I wouldn't be here."

Lan Zhan remained silent, and his expression remained mildly skeptical.

"What else could I be?" Wei Ying remembered the sensation of dying in the flames far too well to be anything but dead. The only explanation for him still being here was that he had become a ghost.

"Do you have proof that you are a ghost?"

Wei Ying flopped backward onto the bed. He was really starting to hate that cool tone of Lan Zhan's. "You are the first person who has been able to see me since I died. You are the only person who can see me right now."

Lan Zhan's expression shifted from one of skepticism to of deep thought. Wei Ying had the feeling that he wasn't going to like whatever Lan Zhan was going to suggest.

…...

"Do you know about the fire that happened here six months ago?"

Xichen set down his cup of tea, surprised by Wangji's question. "I do know about it. Why do you ask?"

Wangji skipped answering Xichen in favor of asking another question. "How many people died?"

"Three." Xichen frowned. "Wangji, what is this about?"

Wangji gestured into the air beside him. "Wei Ying is standing right here. Can you see him?"

Xichen was confused as to how he should respond. Was it some kind of game? But no, Wangji didn't usually play this kind of game, and judging by the earnest expression on his face, he wanted a truthful answer.

"I don't see anyone," Xichen responded. "Am I supposed to?"

Wangji's brows furrowed, and he turned to the space he had been gesturing to. "You're right, he can't see you." He paused for a few moments, as though listening for an answer, before turning back to Xichen. "We have a ghost in our apartment."